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Protectors of the Planets
Protectors of the Planets is an English science-fiction drama television series created by Reece Jacobs, controlled by Jaba Studios, and broadcasted on Revma starting January 1st, 2010. The show was produced and filmed primarily in London and elsewhere in the United Kingdom, with European locations often used for scenes containing alien planets. The series revolves around several plots, a large ensemble cast and series-spanning story arcs whilst still retaining "antagonist of the week" episodes for a large percentage of the overall episodes, although this decreases overtime. The original main arc of the show focuses around siblings Jacob (Callum Turner) and Conrad Lily (Ashton Sanders) whose lives turn upside-down after being chosen as "hosts" by Alexios (Daniel Wu) and Cass (Katherine Langford), extraterrestrial "guardians" from the race known as the Spreachs. Throughout the series, these characters combat a variety of foes who act as alien threats against planetary civilisations, often being Earth. Another follows the rise and fall of Alexios and Cass' race named the Spreachs, through conflict and alliances, while another story arc focuses on gradual hostel creation and universal takeover from an artificial intelligence threat, including the killing & mind uploading of casualties. In order to protect the longevity of the programme three important factors come into play. Firstly, the show has been through three major production periods due to different show-runners: Reece Jacobs (2008-14), Alice Warren (2015-19) and James Corner (2019-). Each production period tends to contain new themes, characters and plot-arcs, although the core cast and primary arcs flow across each. Secondly, the cast is constantly in motion, with additions and removals of main characters common. Finally, most season tend to contain a "Dystopia Episodes" in which the central characters are not present to save the day; these stories are often critically-acclaimed, winning several awards for the show. Protectors of the Planets ''attracts record viewerships not only on Revma, but on streaming services as a whole, and has received many positive reactions from viewers and critics alike. The show has been praised for its acting, story, scope, complex characters and music score. It has received several Primetime Emmy Awards, most notably Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special. Consequently, Jaba Studios has used this success to propel the franchise onwards, with tens of television and film spinoffs, all amalgamating into a shared universe. In February 2018, Jaba Studios renewed the series for a ninth and tenth season, with James Corner in control. The ninth season premiered on January 1st, 2019 and the tenth season is set to premiere on October 1st, 2019 - the first time in the shows history to have two seasons in one year. Cast and characters ''Main article: List of Protectors of the Planets Characters Main Characters * Jacob Lily is portrayed by Callum Turner * Conrad Lily is portrayed by Ashton Sanders * Alexios is portrayed by Daniel Wu * Cass is portrayed by Katherine Langford * Heidi Clement is portrayed by Lenora Crichlow Recurring Characters * x is portrayed by y Episodes Main article: List of Protectors of the Planets Episodes' Season 1 Main article: Protectors of the Planets (Season 1) Production Conception and Development English writer Reece Bridgwater was given the opportunity to produce new shows for the upcoming Jaba Studios streaming service Revma in the late 2000s. To contrast against his mystery thriller hit Pandora (2008-15) ''he wanted to produce a science-fiction drama, with shows such as ''The Twilight Zone ''acting as inspiration. Bridgwater wanted to focus a simple idea of two intergalactic space-agents protecting the universe from threats, and then overtime increase the lore and complexity of the universe. It wasn't until much later on in the development of the show that the idea of 'Hosting' - the sharing of a body between two consciousness - came into play, with Jacob & Conrad and Alexios & Cass becoming separate characters and personalities. He also wanted to introduce concepts and features of the show from another unaware-perspective, which resulted in the character of Heidi Clement, although her entry into the show was purposely slow, with the introduction of too many characters in the show being controlled carefully. Casting Jackson Rees is the show's main casting director, and used a colour-blind casting technique during auditions and readings which resulted in a racially diverse ensemble cast; this diversity is often praised by critics. The only exception was Callum Turner whom Bridgwater wanted from the start, and was announced as joining the pilot in 2008. Other actors signed for the pilot were the rest of the first and second season's "core team", with Ashton Sanders as Conrad Lily, Daniel Wu as Alexios, Katherine Langford as Cass, and Lenora Circhlow as Heidi Clement. The rest of the first season's cast was filled into the second half of 2008 and first of 2009. From the first season onwards, almost all cast members were not given information about their characters story arc up front, except for Callum Turner, to ensure he could convey to complexity of Jacob's character in his performance. However, even with this information he was given heavily redacted scripts. ''Protectors of the Planets ''is often recognised for it's addition and removal of main characters overtime and hence the cast of each season is often confidential until the episodes air. For example, six new main characters were introduced for the second season and four in season 3. Writing In the first season, each episode was co-written by Bridgwater and one other writer: Alex Hoff for episodes 1 and 4, James Clarke for 2 and 3, Alice Warren for 5 and 7, and Christina Preck for 6 and 8). However, from Season 2 onwards this become less common with the Bridgwater's securing a number of talented writers to pen episodes, although tone and ideas were co-handled still. Rebecca Ritchie served as the script editor for the entire first season, although primarily ensured that they were right for production, instead of developing storylines and ideas with writers; due to the controlled vision of Bridgwaters'. During the production of the first season, a second season had quietly been confirmed exclusively to the writing team, allowing for the mythology and story-arcs to be developed as it they were to continue. As well as series long story-arcs, taking inspiration from television shows such as ''Smallvile each series would have a "Big Bad" antagonist. As the series progressed, Bridgwater and the writing team of Protectors of the Planets ''wanted the distinct character arc of Jacob, in Season 5, to be "the transition from protagonist to antagonist, becoming increasingly cold-blooded". This was "to increase the audience's interaction with the character", as well as to show "the results of anguish and torment bestowed onto him". This development of Jacob, as well as his reckless nature, would eventually lead to the characters demise. Filming Promotion Music The Shared Universe Chronology and Canonicity Future content'''' Adaptations and other appearances Spin-offs in different media Companion Show Companion Magazine Video Games Original Soundtracks Ratings